Re: CAT 5 products

[Nigel Orr <Nigel.Orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 23:42 18/05/00 +0100, you wrote:
>Being a bit green in this field, is there different cable grades e.g.
4x2
>twisted pair etc.

For Cat-5 stuff, usually there is just UTP, which is unshielded twisted
pair, and FTP/STP- Foil/Shielded twisted pair.  'Normal' cables have 4
twisted pairs, there are also other configurations (eg 25pr), but these are
unlikely to be useful at home, as it's not good to run different services
(eg ethernet, phones) in different pairs in the same cable jacket.

There are 2 normal types of wire, solid core, for installations (as it
would break if flexed regularly) and stranded, for patch cables.

There are also alternative jackets- most common is LSF (low smoke and fume)
or LSZH (low smoke zero halogen), which might be specified for commercial
installations, could be used at home, normally have a purple jacket, and
are normally 2x to 3x the price of the ordinary stuff.  You can also get
ordinary jacketed stuff in different colours.

>  and what is cat 6 used for.

Cat 6 is the (yet to be finalised?) next standard for even faster
networking.  In practice, there's nothing commonly in use that demands it,
and it won't give significant benefits for anything apart from fast
computer networks.

Cat 4 is a lower spec cable, useful for phones, now usually more expensive
than cat-5!


>My intention is to have a double rj45 socket in each room which can be
used
>for audio, video, phone or pc's.

I'm using phonos for audio and video, possibly speakon for speaker plates,
standard BT sockets for phones, and am currently without ethernet... once
it's in place, I don't think there's going to be much changing around, so
having the same socket for everything would probably just end up with
amplified ethernet being 'played' in each room, or phone conversations
coming out all the speakers, and ringing voltage blowing up network cards
:-)

In practice, if you reconfigure an outlet, unless you are the only one
allowed to unplug things, you will have to relabel the other end too, and
rely on children (or adults) not plugging the wrong thing into the wrong
socket, it could be a recipe for confusion.

>throughout the house, which by means of patch cables etc. can be
interlinked
>as required, allowing audio or video to be routed as required..

I'd considered something like that, but it's really more bulky and
expensive than is necessary.  Krone blocks are about as fast to reconnect
as patch cables, much smaller too!  Patch cables are the only way to go for
reliable ethernet connections though, so if you want every socket to be
able to do every function, that's the way to go about it.

>No doubt this will have the audio buffs up in arms, but personally I
find

Probably, but as the sound has probably already traversed a mile or more of
screened cables on it's way to the CD, 10-20m more shouldn't hurt :-)

Nigel


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